Regarding the ongoing remarkable advances made in integrated circuit (IC) technology over the past years, the package for the VLSI circuits seems to be becoming more of a problem than the VLSI chips themselves. In other words, packaging--the technology of protection, connecting, cooling and housing the circuits--appears to presently be the main limitation on (inter alia) the speed and performance of complex electronic systems built with IC's. The prior art is replete of "ideal" design approaches to each packaging goal but they frequently conflict so that compromises are required for any "practical" system packaging design. In this rather complex field--where electrical, mechanical and metallurgical aspects have to be carefully considered--finding the "right" balanced compromise is often decisive for the success or failure of a particular approach.
From the viewpoint of this invention the following references are regarded representative of the prior art.